Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Table Mountain

(Encyclopedia)Table Mountain, 3,567 ft (1,087 m) high, Western Cape, South Africa. It overlooks Cape Town and Table Bay. The summit is flat, and the dense white mist that often covers it is called the “tablecloth...

tallow

(Encyclopedia)tallow, solid fat extracted from the tissues and fatty deposits of animals, especially from suet (the fat of cattle and sheep). Pure tallow is white, odorless and tasteless; it consists chiefly of tri...

Tarawera Mountain

(Encyclopedia)Tarawera Mountain täˌräwârˈə [key], volcanic peak, 3,646 ft (1,111 m) high, on the North Island, New Zealand, in Rotorua. Its eruption in 1886 destroyed villages and the unique silica Pink and W...

Whittaker, Charles Evans

(Encyclopedia)Whittaker, Charles Evans, 1901–73, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1957–62), b. Troy, Kans. He received his law degree from the Univ. of Kansas City in 1924 and practiced law for many...

Vail

(Encyclopedia)Vail vāl [key], town (1990 pop. 3,569), Eagle co., W central Colo., on Gore Creek, in the Gore Range of the Rocky Mts.; founded as a ski resort 1962, inc. as a town 1966. Surrounded by the White Rive...

San Clemente

(Encyclopedia)San Clemente săn klĭmĕnˈtē [key], city (1990 pop. 41,100), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; inc. 1928. Camp Pendleton, a large U.S. marine base, adjoins the city, which is chiefly resi...

Reid, Thomas Mayne

(Encyclopedia)Reid, Thomas Mayne (Mayne Reid), 1818–83, British novelist, b. Ireland. He emigrated to the United States in 1840 and after various adventures in the West served as a lieutenant in the Mexican War. ...

Cornell, Ezra

(Encyclopedia)Cornell, Ezra, 1807–74, American financier and founder of Cornell Univ., b. Westchester Landing, N.Y. Cornell, who began life as a laborer, was of an ingenious mechanical bent and had a shrewd busin...

Akasaki, Isamu

(Encyclopedia)Akasaki, Isamu, 1929–2021, Japanese physicist, b. Chiran, Japan, Kyoto Univ. (BA, 1942), Nagoya Univ. (Ph.D., 1964). Aftger graduating from college, Akasaki worked as an engineer before ...

halo, in meteorology

(Encyclopedia)halo, in meteorology, short-lived circles or arcs, and less commonly spikes and crosses, of colored or whitish light surrounding the moon or sun or in clouds as seen from above. A halo occurs when the...